MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin's vow to mend the Russian economy will be put to the test Wednesday as the state decides whether to oust the head of the country's most important company, OAO Gazprom.

Economists have long maintained that Russia cannot prosper until Gazprom is reformed. The gas giant is Russia's biggest hard-currency earner and taxpayer, but it has suffered years of murky, Soviet-style management and plummeting...